The Philippines asked Bangladesh for the results of its investigation into a US$81 million cyberheist as it commits to help the Bangladeshi central bank recover stolen reserves, Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said in a statement.
Dominguez and other Philippine officials met last week with a high-level delegation from Bangladesh, led by Bangladeshi Minister of Justice Anisul Huq.
The delegation thanked the Philippine government for helping in the return of US$15 million of the funds stolen by hackers in February from the Bangladesh Bank, and which found its way to the Philippines, the Department of Finance said in a statement.
The hackers stole US$81 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which said instructions to make the payments were authenticated by the SWIFT message system, widely used by financial institutions.
The episode highlighted vulnerable links in the payment network underlying the global financial system.
Dominguez said the government will continue to help recover the rest of the funds following processes required under Philippine laws.
At the meeting, Philippine officials asked that Bangladesh share the results of its investigation into the heist with the Philippine Department of Justice and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
“There were certain judicial processes ... that you had to go through to make sure that there would be no challenge to your taking the funds,” Dominguez was quoted as telling the Bangladesh delegation. “We are pursuing lawsuits on your behalf, actually, as vigorously as we can.”
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla has asked Bangladeshi officials to provide a full report on the investigation to strengthen the Philippine government’s position on behalf of Bangladesh in the court proceedings, the Philippine Department of Finance said in the statement.
The Bangladeshi officials have committed to sending updates on the probe, it said.
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